QBZ is a free and open source high-fidelity streaming client for Linux (with experimental macOS support) with native playback. It is a real desktop application — not a web wrapper — with DAC passthrough, per-track sample rate switching, exclusive mode, and bit-perfect audio delivery.
No API keys needed. No telemetry. No tracking. Just music.
- This application uses the Qobuz API but is not certified by Qobuz.
- Qobuz is a trademark of Qobuz. QBZ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by Qobuz.
- Offline cache is a temporary playback store for listening without an internet connection while you have a valid subscription. If your subscription becomes invalid, QBZ will remove all cached content after 3 days.
- Local library is a "bring your own music" feature — play your own files with bit-perfect audio and the full QBZ interface, no streaming subscription required.
- Qobuz Terms of Service: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/legal/terms
Browsers cap audio output at 48 kHz and resample everything through WebAudio. QBZ uses a native playback pipeline with direct device control so your DAC receives the original resolution — up to 24-bit / 192 kHz — with no forced resampling.
yay -S qbz-bin # or paru -S qbz-binflatpak install flathub com.blitzfc.qbzAudiophiles: Flatpak sandboxing limits PipeWire bit-perfect. Use ALSA Direct backend for guaranteed bit-perfect in Flatpak, or install via native packages for full PipeWire support.
sudo snap install qbz-player
sudo snap connect qbz-player:alsa
sudo snap connect qbz-player:pipewireNote: MPRIS media controls (media keys, desktop integration) are currently unavailable in the Snap build due to a pending auto-connect review from Canonical. If you have a Snapcraft forum account, please consider supporting the request. All other installation methods have full MPRIS support.
curl -fsSL https://vicrodh.github.io/qbz-apt/qbz-archive-keyring.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/qbz-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/qbz-archive-keyring.gpg arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] https://vicrodh.github.io/qbz-apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/qbz.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install qbzRequires glibc 2.38+ (Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 13+). For older releases use Flatpak, Snap, or AppImage.
Download from Releases: sudo dnf install ./qbz-*.rpm
Requires glibc 2.38+ (Fedora 39+, openSUSE Tumbleweed).
eselect repository add qbz-overlay git https://github.com/vicrodh/qbz-overlay.git
emerge --sync qbz-overlay
emerge media-sound/qbz-bin # prebuilt binary
# or
emerge media-sound/qbz # build from sourceDownload from Releases: chmod +x QBZ.AppImage && ./QBZ.AppImage
QBZ is a Linux-first application. macOS support is experimental and limited. Features like PipeWire, ALSA Direct, casting, and device control are unavailable.
Download the unsigned DMG from Releases.
Since the DMG is unsigned, you may need to allow it in System Settings > Privacy & Security after first launch.
- Bit-perfect playback with DAC passthrough and per-track sample rate switching (44.1–192 kHz)
- Four audio backends: PipeWire, ALSA, ALSA Direct (hw: bypass), PulseAudio
- HiFi Wizard — guided bit-perfect configuration with real DAC capability detection
- Native decoding: FLAC, MP3, AAC, ALAC, WavPack, Ogg Vorbis, Opus (Symphonia)
- Gapless playback on all backends
- Loudness normalization (EBU R128) with ReplayGain support
- Two-level audio cache with next-track prefetching
- Streaming playback — start listening before download completes
- Queue with shuffle, repeat (track/queue/off), and history
- Favorites and playlists from your Qobuz account
- Qobuz playlist follow/unfollow — subscribe natively, syncs across all Qobuz clients
- Local library — directory scanning, metadata extraction, CUE sheets, SQLite indexing
- Tag editor with sidecar storage (preserves original files)
- Virtualized lists for large libraries
Multi-device playback control using Qobuz's real-time streaming protocol.
- Renderer mode — receive playback commands from your phone, tablet, or web player
- Controller mode — control remote devices from QBZ
- Server-authoritative queue sync across all devices
- Bidirectional transport: play, pause, skip, seek, shuffle, repeat, volume
- Chromecast, DLNA/UPnP, and AirPlay discovery and streaming
- Seamless playback handoff to network devices
- MPRIS media controls and media keys
- Last.fm scrobbling and now-playing
- ListenBrainz scrobbling with offline queue
- MusicBrainz artist enrichment, musician credits, relationships (no telemetry — one-way pull)
- Discogs artwork for local library
- Playlist import from Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer
- Desktop notifications with artwork
- Full-screen player with tabbed panel system
- 17+ visualization panels: spectrum, oscilloscope, spectrogram, Linebed (3D terrain), Laser, Tunnel, Comet, coverflow, and more
- Synchronized lyrics with line-by-line display
- Queue, track info, history, and suggestions panels
- Scene Discovery — explore artists by location and musical scene (MusicBrainz-powered)
- 3-tab Home: customizable Home, Editor's Picks, personalized For You
- Genre filtering, artist similarity engine, radio stations
- Musician pages, label pages, album credits
- 26+ themes (Dark, OLED, Nord, Dracula, Tokyo Night, Catppuccin, Breeze, Adwaita...)
- Auto-theme from DE, wallpaper, or custom image
- Focus mode, mini player, PDF booklet viewer
- Configurable keyboard shortcuts, UI zoom 80–200%
- 5 languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese
- Offline mode with automatic reconnection
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Desktop shell | Rust + Tauri 2.0 |
| Frontend | SvelteKit + Svelte 5 (runes) + TypeScript + Vite |
| Audio decoding | Symphonia (all codecs) via rodio 0.22 |
| Audio backends | PipeWire, ALSA (alsa-rs), ALSA Direct (hw:), PulseAudio |
| Networking | reqwest (rustls-tls), axum (local API server) |
| Database | rusqlite (bundled SQLite, WAL mode) |
| MuPDF 0.6 (native rendering) | |
| Desktop | souvlaki (MPRIS), ashpd (XDG notifications), keyring |
| Casting | rust_cast (Chromecast), rupnp (DLNA/UPnP), mdns-sd (AirPlay) |
| i18n | svelte-i18n (5 locales) |
crates/
qbz-models/ Shared domain types
qbz-audio/ Audio backends, loudness, device management
qbz-player/ Playback engine, streaming, queue
qbz-qobuz/ Qobuz API client and auth
qbz-core/ Orchestrator (player + audio + API)
qbz-library/ Local library scanning and metadata
qbz-integrations/ Last.fm, ListenBrainz, MusicBrainz, Discogs
qbz-cache/ L1 memory + L2 disk audio caching
qbz-cast/ Chromecast, DLNA/UPnP, AirPlay
qconnect-protocol/ Qobuz Connect protobuf wire format
qconnect-core/ Queue and renderer domain models
qconnect-app/ Application logic and concurrency
qconnect-transport-ws/ WebSocket transport with qcloud framing
- Rust (latest stable), Node.js 20+, Linux or macOS with audio support
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libgtk-3-dev libasound2-dev \
libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev libssl-dev pkg-configFedora:
sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel gtk3-devel alsa-lib-devel \
libappindicator-gtk3-devel librsvg2-devel openssl-devel pkg-configArch Linux:
sudo pacman -S webkit2gtk-4.1 gtk3 alsa-lib libappindicator-gtk3 \
librsvg openssl pkg-configGentoo:
sudo emerge net-libs/webkit-gtk:4.1 x11-libs/gtk+:3 media-libs/alsa-lib \
dev-libs/libayatana-appindicator gnome-base/librsvg dev-libs/openssl virtual/pkgconfiggit clone https://github.com/vicrodh/qbz.git && cd qbz
npm install
npm run tauri dev # development
npm run tauri build # production (DEB, RPM, AppImage)Pre-built releases include a hosted API proxy for Last.fm, Discogs, Tidal, and Spotify integrations — no API keys needed.
If you build from source and want these integrations, you can either:
- Deploy your own proxy (recommended) — a Cloudflare Worker that securely holds API keys server-side:
git clone https://github.com/vicrodh/qbz-api-proxy.git
cd qbz-api-proxy
# Add your API keys to wrangler.toml or via `wrangler secret put`
wrangler deployThen set the proxy URL before building QBZ:
export QBZ_API_PROXY_URL="https://your-worker.your-account.workers.dev"
npm run tauri build- Use direct API keys — set them in
.env(see.env.example). Keys are embedded at compile time.
MusicBrainz and Spotify playlist import work without any API keys or proxy.
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
QBZ_HARDWARE_ACCEL=0 |
Disable GPU rendering (crash recovery) |
QBZ_FORCE_X11=1 |
Use XWayland (NVIDIA Wayland issues) |
QBZ_SOFTWARE_RENDER=1 |
Force Mesa llvmpipe (VMs) |
QBZ_DISABLE_DMABUF=1 |
Disable DMA-BUF (Intel Arc EGL crashes) |
If QBZ crashes on startup: qbz --reset-graphics
- Hi-Res seeking — seeking in tracks >96kHz can take 10-20s (decoder must scan from start). Use prev/next for instant navigation.
- ALSA Direct — exclusive access blocks other apps. Use DAC/amplifier physical volume control.
- PipeWire bit-perfect in Flatpak — limited by sandbox. Use ALSA Direct or native packages.
User guides, audio configuration, integrations, and troubleshooting: QBZ Wiki (work in progress).
QBZ is MIT-licensed. No telemetry, no tracking, no hidden services. Built for Linux audio enthusiasts, with experimental macOS support.
Contributions welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting issues or pull requests.
- @vorce
- @boxdot
- @arminfelder
- @afonsojramos — macOS port
- @GwendalBeaumont — i18n
MIT
